Still having spring fever!

We had our last organic gardening class this week. There was a seed swap at the end of class. Although we did not have seeds to share, there were so many offerings we were able to get many types of seeds for our gardens. Chris finally had to tell me to stop!

I think I will try to build my first raised bed this Sunday. I would like to have six of them. I may need a few more, with everything I have to grow. Actually, the gourds will probably do better in our sandy soil, rather than the raised beds. I think I should save our "good" soil in the beds for our vegetables. The gourds can make themselves at home in the ground.

I will have to construct some kind of barrier to keep the chickens out of the garden. I love to let them out and free range. They get to play, run, flap and do all things chicken. I also love that they will gorge themselves on grasshoppers and crickets. Last year, Chris would hunt for tomato hornworms to feed to the chickens. He gets some sort of sadistic pleasure out of it and will at times sing "Circle of Life" as he sacrifices some ravenous, tomato devouring worm to the hens. Silly man. I just love him.

The seeds I ordered from Seed Savers shipped today, so I expect them to arrive soon. I have some worries about starting from seed, but will give it my best effort. It is so exciting, to grow food for yourself. I suppose it is easy for me to say that. If my crops fail, I can still go to the grocery store for food. Centuries ago, that certainly was not an option!

I am looking forward to this Saturday. I will be scrapbooking with Angie and the girls. I am ready for a marathon scrap session. I do need to get some photos developed, but always have plenty of projects to work on. Hanging out with my friends is the best part; doing my favorite hobby while chatting is the icing on the cake.

I am anxiously watching the fruit trees we planted last fall. We planted semi-dwarf apple, pear, and peach trees, one of each. I know they probably won't fruit this year, but I just want to know they survived the winter. It got so cold this year.

So, I'll keep dreaming of the wonderful food I'll grow here on our little homestead, Cackle Berry Farm.

Dream: A road trip to the Angry Trout Cafe

I was browsing on one of my favorite sites this morning, www.localharvest.org. I love to see all the cool eco-stuff and dream big. I ran across an item called the Angry Trout Cafe Notebook. This cool book with a pretty trout on the cover is part cookbook, part inspiration on how a small business can thrive sustainably.

I googled the title and sure enough, I found the cafe on the north shore of Lake Superior, in Grand Marais, Minnesota. It sits right on the lake, surrounded by water and boats. No Coke or Pepsi advertising, use of local products and resources, use of wind power--this place is right up my alley!

I checked on MapQuest. A 14 hour drive could have us there for a tasty meal. I think it sounds like a fine adventure and it hasn't taken much to talk Chris into it. So, if we can find someone to critter-sit, we may be able to have a bit of a getaway! Now, I'll have to see if Grand Marais has a nice bed and breakfast.

Almost spring!

Sooo, we are again planning our garden. Hub is psyched about making terraced beds and I am excited about building raised beds. I hope to get to work on my beds this week. I'd like at least six. Check out the Garden Girl, Patti Moreno, for the technique I will be using. Her site is:

www.gardengirltv.com

We have been attending a local organic gardening class. The best part has been making connections with people from our community who are also interested in organic gardening. I hope to encourage them to join us on a yahoo group to keep in touch and share resources and produce.

The chickens are thriving. We still have our ten original hens, plus two Auracana hens we got at Dinky's auction house last July. We actually got ten Auracana chicks, but only two are still with us. I'll spare everyone the story of what happened to the others.

We have been getting 6-12 eggs a day, even in the winter. This winter has been so bitter, we put a portable radiator space heater in the coop. They girls were nice and toasty and their water didn't freeze.

Esther Bunny died last year, just a couple of month after we got her. I was heartbroken. She was a sweetie. Binky continues to thrive and he is quite a rotten little rodent. He has such personality!

Last fall, at the Fiber Arts Festival in Corydon, Indiana, I purchased another Angora rabbit. She is a satin Angora. Her color is lovely, almost apricot. I named her Angel even before I bought her. We have had to work with her to prevent wool block. She eats better than we do, lots of lettuce, kale, turnip greens, beets and carrots. She will eat broccoli, but definitely prefers leafy things. She is so gentle and sweet.

I don't plan on any more rabbits. I love these Angoras, but they are work! When these bunnies finally go (may that be many years), I would love to get another rabbit or two. But I think I'll choose something with a lot less fur! The rabbit poop is great for the garden and will be awesome in the worm bin we will be making soon.

On the work front, we just completed our annual State survey and did well. My Alzheimer's unit passed with flying colors and no tags. I am so relieved.

I am also busy working on my bachelor's degree in nursing. It has been a challenge, but I am thrilled that I have taken this step in my professional life.

Speaking of school, time to get busy on homework!

RIP Esther Bunny

I am sorry to report that Esther Bunny has passed away. I am crushed and heartbroken. I missed the early signs of wool block and got her treatment too late.

I am very distressed by this. I know as a novice rabbit owner, this is a hard lesson. I have had the occasional hard lesson with the chickens, too. I know I get attached to my critters, but I can't help it.

I have accepted the position of Director of Alzheimer's Care at my facility. I am looking forward to this new challenge. I love working with Alzheimer's patients and think I will find this position rewarding.

Putting the garden to bed

As this year's garden effort, admittedly my first true garden attempt, was a bit of a bust, I have started putting most of the garden to bed. I am still getting some Roma tomatoes, which I share with the chickens, but most everything else has petered out.

I have learned a lot this year. I like the square foot gardening method, put forth by Mel Bartholomew, but find that only six inches of soil does not allow for enough root growth to maintain healthy plants. I really like the method used by Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl, with standard sized beds that can hold her chicken and rabbit tractors. Her beds are deeper. I think a hybrid of both methods is ideal.

This year taught me a lot about the pests in this area. I can spend some time in the off season learning about organic methods to control these pests.

I have a lot of good substance in my compost bin. I need to have Hub help me put together another bin to start the next pile.

I have a plan for next years garden, twelve raised beds. Ambitious, I know, but I am hopeful I can grow a bunch of our favorite fruits and veggies.

Bunnies

Finally, I have firgured out how to upload photos! These are shots of Esther Bunny on the day I brought her home. She is huge! Think I will need to shear her in the next week or two. I want Hub to be home to help me as I am nervous about the process. I don't want to hurt the bunny!

Photos

I am going to try to add some photos to my blog. Hub is out of town and I have some new pics of Bean he might like to see.

My online friends also want to see pics of Binky and Esther Bunny. I hope I can figure out how to do this. If not, I'll have to try again later.

The chickies have been laying the occasional egg. They are so funny. They aren't nesting, they just seem to drop eggs where ever. I have to laugh--every night, they gang up on me to get scratched before they settle in for the night.

I made an awesome salad today. My homegrown Roma tomatoes, a homegrown cucumber from a friend, a sweet onion and one of my homegrown red bell peppers. Chopped it all up and added some of that new bountiful dressing. Very tasty.

First Egg!

I just happened to find it tonight when I was feeding and watering the chickies. A perfect brown egg. I have no idea which chicken is responsible--could have been any of them. We searched, but there was just the one.

Hub is leaving on a trip Friday, so we won't get around to building the nesting boxes until he gets back. Guess I'd better buy some layer feed for my girls!

The garden has not been a successful venture. I got exactly two zucchini before squash vine borers got to them. The tomatoes have been rather pitiful and we are fighting those tomato hook worms. We feed them to the chickens when we find them, which is a lot of fun. They must be tasty worms because the girls go nuts!

My new Angora rabbits are doing great. I need to fix up an outdoor play area for them so they can get some exercise. I have totally loved having these sweet, furry critters!

We rebuilt our compost bin yesterday. We picked up some free pallets from INDOT and built a sturdier structure. I can't wait to have some excellent compost.

Chickens rock!

Well, our little sick chick didn't make it through the first night. The rest are lively and bright-eyed, peeping a lot and eating like pigs. These chicks have such interesting coloring, stripes and spots. They should be beautiful birds.

We ate cabbage from the garden tonight. I am so glad Hub can cook! Cabbage, Amish noodles, and bratwurst with cheddar. Good eats!

Ten More Chicks!

Yep, you read that correctly. Hub and I went to a local farm auction tonight. Our running joke (we ALWAYS have a running joke) was that I would probably buy a baby goat. Of course, we aren't prepared for a goat, baby or otherwise. Imagine my surprise when Hub bought day-old chicks.

Araucana chicks, ten of them. These are the "Easter Egg" chickens. These lay light green eggs. They are adorable.

There is one that may not make it, it seems quite frail. We'll see how it does. I say "it" because we have no idea--since they were billed as laying green eggs, I assume some of them are female. No guarantees--there could be one or more roos in the bunch.

We drove home in a storm, awful, it poured so hard we could barely see the road. At home, we had to go out in the rain to bring in the brooder, bedding, feeder and waterer.

They are now nice and toasty in the master bathroom, heat lamp in place. I hope, hope, hope the little frail one survives. The rest are quite lively. Some are a brown/yellow stripe, two are yellow, some are a rich brown.

So, surprise! More chickies! I'll post pics soon.

Things have been quiet

The garden looks good-mostly. I have had a problem with caterpillars eating my cabbage. I just received a shipment of diamotaceous earth and I hope that will help with my pest problem.

The chickens are thriving. Work on the coop has stalled. The temporary run is working fine and the girls seem quite happy. I love to pull up clover and feed them through the chicken wire. They love clover. We have also been feeding them the occasional garden pest, like the above mentioned caterpillars.

Hub has been working on fixing up and apartment for our younger daughter to live in while she attends the local community college. Its an expense we hadn't anticipated and I am not sure how we are going to pull it off. One day at a time, I suppose.

I have just received the book, "Worms Eat My Garbage." It looks very thorough and even entertaining. Hopefully I can start composting with worms soon, although Hub wants me to slow down a bit on revving up the homestead.

I suppose I have been rushing things a bit. Or trying to, anyway. I want worms, rabbits, goats---but I know I can't get them all at the same time.

We are going to a nearby livestock and farm auction this Friday. I don't intend to buy, I just want to get the lay of the land. I am pretty excited about going--I've never been to this type of auction before.

I must remember to enjoy the process.

Casey digs archaeology!

I went to Historic New Harmoney today to see Casey working on the dig. I was very impressed with my petite daughter lugging five gallon buckets full of dirt two at a time. She showed me around the site, which is small, and explained what they had found so far. They have located an area that held a barn long ago. Today, they were working on the area that may have been a summer kitchen.

I watched her dig for a bit as she explained the process and what she might find. We spent the rest of the morning at the screen area. I was so impressed as she worked the dirt through the screen. She found some sizeable shards of red ware, a local glazed pottery. There were bones, not human. Casey said they were most likely from pigs as that was primarily the type of animal bone they had been finding.

We also talked about personal things, her boyfriend, school, and how she was trying to be self-sufficient. How she has matured in this last year. I am so very proud of her.

She thinks she will finish her psychology degree at USI, then do her graduate work in anthropology. As she was working at the screen, covered in dirt and sweat, she said one thing I will remember forever: "Doing this makes me happy."

Then, my darling, this is what you should do.

Wildlife Habitat!

My land is now certified with the National Wildlife Federation as a wildlife habitat. I am thrilled! This has been a goal of mine for years.

There are a few more things I want to do, as money allows.

• I would like to put in a small wetland
• I want a habitat for amphibians
• I'd like a water feature
• I definitely want a bat house
• I want a house for mason bees (love those pollinators!)

I think all these things are compatible with my homesteading activities. I find great pleasure in nurturing the wild creatures that share my home.

Last year, I hung up a bird house gourd. I was so disappointed that no birds used it. This morning, Hub told me to go look. There's a nest inside, and a wren flew out as I approached! I am delighted!

The garden is doing well. Except, only a few corn plants have sprouted. I may plant a few more tomorrow and see what happens. The zucchini looks good. Can't wait for fried zucchini and zucchini bread. MMMMM!

Our solar clothes dryer (clothesline) has continued to bring me pleasure. It may sound funny to some, but I love being outside, hanging clothes and folding them as they come off the line. It's soothing. There has been a stiff wind today, so it hasn't taken things long to dry!

Hub is working on the chicken coop. He has installed the door for the chickens and only needs to rig up a pulley system to open and close it. Now he is finishing off the side of the coop where the lttle door is so we can get it sided, painted and the run put up. The chickies are getting too big for their little pen!

I have checking into what kind of goats I'd like to get next year. I am leaning towards the Dwarf Nigerian goats. They have milk with a high butterfat content, good for making cheese. I need to eventually pick a spot for a shelter for the larger livestock. I worry about coyotes getting the goats, so I may look into a guard lama.

I also definitely want Angora rabbits. I am going to learn to spin this year if it kills me! Drop spindle and on the wheel. I'd like to be able to spin right off the rabbit. Besides, they are adorable!!

Salad in progress

Yesterday, I planted swiss chard, arugula, and romaine. My garden is so pretty! I just wish it would warm up here. I think the garden will really take off with some good sunshine!

I bought crickets for the chickens yesterday. I love to watch them go nuts and chase around the coop. Of course, whoever gets the last cricket gets chased around by the others until the cricket is eaten! So funny! They make more "chicken" noises now, instead of peep, peep, peep. They look so surprised when a full blown cluck emerges.

I almost ended up with a bunny yesterday. I was at the pet store (small pets only, no cats or dogs) to get the crickets when I noticed an enclosure full of bunnies. One little lop hopped up to the glass, sat up and wiggled its nose at me. Instant love! For only $25. Of course, then I would have to buy bedding, a feeder, a waterer, food and a cage. But, oh, I wanted that little rabbit. It was all I could do to take my crickets and leave.

I have filled all the space in my garden. I now wish I had more room. I was walking in our back acreage this morning, looking at all the space, planning projects to make use of that area. We have 3.3 acres and it seems a shame not to utilize it.

I have it in wildflowers and prairie grasses, but I am still fighting Johnson grass. I am trying to conquer that by hand weeding as I don't want to mow down the beneficial plants. We have planted trees out back, but our lovely deer think we are putting out snacks. I don't want to be rid of the deer (I love to watch them), but need to protect and future tree plantings. Deer fencing, I guess.

In the next week, I am hoping to finish everything I need to get certified by NWF as a Backyard Habitat. That is so awesome to me! I love watching all the wildlife around my house.

So far, my garden rocks!

My garden looks awesome! Bean got me Italian parsley for Mother's Day, so I planted it today. My cabbage is beautiful. And I had my first harvest! Two lovely strawberries, just ripe! They were tasty and I hope I have more soon!

I planted beets today, much to Hub's excitement. I have never had fresh beets, only canned or pickled. Hub doesn't like pickled beets. He says that beets with butter and some salt are heavenly. I can't wait to try!

I have everything I need to fill my last garden bed, except good enough weather. It has been the rainiest spring ever, I think. I am hoping to have time and good weather this Sunday.

The chickens continue to thrive. We have been busy, so no further progress on the coop. I put them in their pen as often as I can, weather permitting. I got them a large feeder and waterer as the small ones didn't hold them a day. Hub hung them from the coop ceiling and they stay much cleaner.Hub also built a three tier roost. It is so cute to see the chickies on it. Some on it, some under it. It's a process!

I now have a compost area, made with supplies we had on hand. I am delighted to have a place for my kitchen scraps and the shavings from the coop.

I am pleased with my progress with my little homestead so far. I am being patient, enjoying the process. It is a journey and an adventure.

Slow Going

I have been fighting bronchitis this week. I've had three days off and couldn't enjoy it for being sick. Ick. I haven't even felt like scrapping. It has been pouring rain for three days here and I couldn't do anything outside, either.

I did gather the bills and it is depressing. I am going to have to work more to make ends meet. I love my job, but it is physically and mentally draining to me. Right now, I work 64 hours a pay, that's 8 shifts in two weeks. That is really my limit. Up until now, it was OK, although Hub is a bit weird about me not working "full time." The work exhausts me and doesn't leave me much to give at home. I don't think he understands how hard it is to be a nurse.

But money is more than tight right now and we need more. One of the new nurses is resigning and I know I could pick up a couple more shifts to make me 80 hours. Since I work evening shift, I'll never get to see Hub, except on the weekends that I am off and two days in that two weeks. I just wish I was back on day shift, but I kind of burned that bridge. I guess we will see what happens. Maybe I could work more just through the summer, until we get the Subaru paid off. That will free up almost $400 a month.

The chickens are growing like weeds. They are so funny. Hub built them a roost. When he put it in the coop, they immediately jumped on it. Since then, they have spent more time huddling beneath it. I guess they will figure it out.

My garden looks amazing. I now have cabbage, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, broccoli, basil, and thyme. Dad gave me $100 for my birthday and I am going to spend it preparing my last raised bed and buying veggies for it. I can't wait to actually harvest something, even just one strawberry.

I received a catalog from Gaiam/Real Goods that has a lot of cool, low eco-impact products in it. Some are more money than I would spend, but others may be possible next year. It is nice to dream...

Movin' sloooowly and loving' it!

Things have been moving slowly here on the homestead. I am pleased with our progress and I am in no hurry. The chicken coop is still progressing. We will be roofing tomorrow before I go to work, then Hub will work on the window and door. I prefer that he and I do the roofing as opposed to him roofing alone. If he falls, I will be here to render first aid or call 911! I know, I am a worry wart, but better safe than sorry.

So, we should be able to move the chickies into their new home next week. The coop won't be totally complete, but liveable. Hub has christened the coop "The Eggplant." He is delighted with this play on words. I think it is cute!

My garden looks good. I was worried that my plants would be flattened by last night's storm, but everything seems to have come through it OK.

Since things have been slower, I have had a lot of time to consider what I want to do with my little homestead. I have decided to create The List.

Lists are wonderful things. You can use them to brainstorm, inspire, remember, dream--lists are awesome. They are dynamic, as they can be altered as the need arises. Here is my list of things I want to accomplish on the homestead:

Bat house
Bee habitat
honey bee hives
goats
Certify as a Wildlife Habitat with NWF
Vermicomposting
compost piles
solar oven

The list will gow--I could actually add to it now, but I think I'll go take a nap!

Progress on the chicken coop!

Hub and I made a lot of progress on the coop yesterday. The walls are up, the door and windows are framed in. We put up the external part of the walls on the back before the weather turned on us. I am hoping we can move the chicks in about two weeks.

I was able to put down the landscaping fabric for the garden. We bought the vermiculite, compost and peat yesterday. I was actually able to find coarse vermiculite--at a place that had originally told me they didn't have it. Now I know to be more persistent in my inquiries. My soil mix won't be exact, but it will have to do for this year. I need to buy about three or four bags of garden soil and some mulch to complete the prep for my garden.

The chickies enjoyed crickets again yesterday. I also picked up some meal worms, which caused a frenzy. On chick had a meal worm and everyone else chased her around the brooder trying to take it away. She finally tipped her head up and down it went. They are so funny.

Another project we did yesterday was a corner garden at the end of the driveway. Hub had some split rail fence left over from a job he did last year. We put it up in a corner pattern.

Some friends of ours are relocating to Maine in a couple of months and they offered us anything we wanted from their garden. So more FREE stuff!! Teasel, globe thistle, Russian sage, California poppies, and a hollyhock. We put it all with the split rail fence to create a corner butterfly garden.

They also gave us two kinds of mint, but I am thnking of planting that somewhere else. Maybe as a ground cover near the front walk.

The weather doesn't seem to be cooperating today for many of our outdoor projects, so I'll most likely work indoors the rest of the day. Spring in Indiana, gotta love it!

The chickies have left the buidling!

Today is my chicks first outing. We have a small pen we made as a "cat containment system", to corral the kitties when we were showing the house. It has chicken wire walls and a hinged lid. It is a warm, albeit very windy, day, but I decided they chicks needed some outside time. The brooder is getting a bit cramped. We are starting work on the coop tonight, hopefully we can have it liveable within a week if we get cracking on it.

Anyway, I took them out in the brooder and lifted each one into the little pen. They are so funny. They looked so puzzled. They each just stood there until everyone was together again and huddled against each other. I have a barrier on one side to keep most of the wind off and their food and water in the corner.

It took a while, but they finally started to explore and scratch. I can see them from the window and everyone seems fine. It was hard for mama to give them this freedom--I am surprise by how attached I have gotten to them. Of course, I have been an animal nut my whole life.
I know there is a big chance I'll lose some to predators no matter how careful I am. But, I have really been enjoying these birds.

This is one of the little things in the adventure that is my life!

Ready to garden--sorta!

Well, I am ready to start gardening, but I am having issues finding coarse vermiculite for my soil mix. I am creating a garden based on the Square Foot Gardening technique. You make the soil for the garden beds with 1/3 blended compost, 1/3 coarse vermiculite, 1/3 peat. I can find the blended compost and the peat, but the vermiculite has proved to be a problem. I am still on the hunt for a local source (I try to shop local whenever I can), but I may have to purchase on line. Dang it, I hate shipping charges.

The garden boxes are ready. I have the landscaping fabric to put down to squelch weeds. I am so ready--no vermiculite. I'll keep looking, but I may have to come up with something else.

On a cool note, a co-worker gave me two cabbage plants for free. Wahoo, I love free! I have three strawberry plants, so I am feeling the pinch to get these cold hardy plants in the garden.

The chickies are still doing great. Hub created a top for the bin with the bin lid cut out in the middle and covered with chicken wire. The little darlings are flapping like crazy. I brought them more crickets today and had a ball watching the free-for-all. They are so entertaining.

I am off now to hang my first load of laundry on my new clothesline. No dryer today, I'll let nature do it for me!